KWAME ANTHONY APPIAH

Philosopher, Cultural Theorist and Novelist

11h00-11h40, Centre des arts - Auditorium

Kwame Anthony Appiah’s work explores some of the most pressing social issues in our contemporary world. His interests include political and moral theory, the philosophy of language and mind, and African intellectual history. As the “Ethicist” for The New York Times Magazine, Appiah explores questions on morality, ethnicity and religion.

In his renowned book Cosmopolitanism, Dr. Appiah unravels a world where identity has become a weapon and where difference has become a cause of pain and suffering. Cosmopolitanism won the Arthur Ross Book Award, which is the most significant prize given to a book on international affairs. The Lies that Bind, The Honor Code: How Moral Revolutions Happen and As If: Idealization and Ideals are amongst some of his other notable works that encompass themes of identity, culture and human morality.

From 2009 to 2012, Dr. Appiah served as President of the PEN American Center, the world’s oldest human rights organization, and currently, he is the chair of The Man Booker Prize. Additionally, he is named one of the Foreign Policy’s Top 100 public intellectuals and Carnegie Corporation’s “Great Immigrants”, and awarded a National Humanities Medal by the White House.